The site is currently occupied by four large-format stores, including Mothercare, Matalan, Sports Direct and Family Bargains.

The development in context (when Lewisham Gateway is completed)

The seven replacement towers will form a perimeter around a large communal garden on the second floor while the pavements on Jerrard Street, Thurston Road and Loampit Vale will be repaved "to create boulevards."

One of the new 'boulevards'

The developers have also proposed a new public 'Station Square’, which would form a link with the neighbouring development planned to replace Carpetright.

The new retail space on Loampit Vale

The current site is soul-crushingly ugly, both in terms of the buildings that occupy it and the roads that circle it. This proposal would add density and continue to drag the centre of Lewisham further towards Brockley, creating new retail space that will have a chance of attracting some decent brands.

This development would transform one of the borough's most desolate spots at a time when many London developers are getting cold feet, but it would be good to see the Council drive the best possible deal for the public realm. Given the scale and density of the development, those boulevards better be paved with gold.